1 Learn the concept
A SWOT analysis is a simple framework that lists a business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal: things the business controls. Opportunities and threats are external: things happening in the market. Marketers use a SWOT to decide where to focus effort and what to avoid. This lesson shows how to run a SWOT and turn the results into marketing priorities.
2 See it in action
- Strengths: what the business does well or has that others lack.
- Weaknesses: where it is behind, limited or vulnerable.
- Opportunities: trends, gaps or events it could use. Threats: competitors, changes or risks it must watch.
Worked example
Turning a SWOT into priorities
Pair a strength with an opportunity: loyal regulars plus a new office tower means an office catering offer launched through the existing customer list.
Pair a weakness with a threat: no online ordering plus a chain opening nearby means adding online ordering before the chain arrives.
Result: two clear marketing priorities instead of a list of eight observations.
Check: every priority should connect a box in the grid to an action with an owner and a date.
3 Study an example
Real-world case study
Patagonia: turning a perceived risk into a strength
What they did. On Black Friday, November 25, 2011, Patagonia ran a full-page ad in The New York Times headlined "Don't Buy This Jacket". The ad was part of its Common Threads Initiative, which invited customers to take a pledge to buy only what they need, choose durable products and think twice before buying.
What happened. Asking customers to buy less could look like a threat to sales, yet the campaign became a much-discussed example of mission-led marketing and reinforced how the brand is known.
What to take away. A SWOT can reveal when something that looks like a weakness fits a strength. An outside reading using only public information might list a mission-driven brand and loyal customers as strengths, premium prices as a weakness, growing interest in sustainability as an opportunity and competition from other outdoor brands as a threat.
The SWOT reading above is illustrative, based on public information, and is not Patagonia's own analysis.
Sources Patagonia: Don't Buy This Jacket, Black Friday and the New York Times · Patagonia Australia: Don't Buy This Jacket
4 Apply it and download
- Choose a business and list two items in each of the four boxes.
- Circle the one strength and one opportunity that fit together best.
- Turn them into a marketing priority using the SWOT template.
Worksheet SWOT templateOpen, print or save as PDF